Johny Hendricks believes Georges St-Pierre will return to the cage one day. In the meantime, he’s happy to be fighting Robbie Lawler for the UFC welterweight championship.

Hendricks said he believes that St-Pierre will miss the sport and return, according to Yahoo!

Hendricks said he quit wrestling often, but after a few months always wanted to return.

“He’ll probably take five, six months, maybe even a year off, and he’ll have the itch to come back and start training again, and once that happens, he’ll be back,” according to Yahoo!

The No. 1 welterweight contender could go down in history as the man whom GSP fought last, after St-Pierre announced an indefinite break from the cage a week ago. St-Pierre and Hendricks battled to a five-round decision at UFC 167, in a fight that many observers believe Hendricks won.

The judges awarded the fight to St-Pierre by split decision. Regardless of who got the official win, at the end of the fight St-Pierre’s face was battered, bloodied and bruised from Hendricks’s left and right hands. Hendricks’s face looked relatively clean after the fight.

Although GSP has been dominant as welterweight champion, he wasn’t able to overpower Hendricks on the ground like he has so many of his other opponents. Hendricks is a 3-time Oklahoma High School Wrestling State Champion and a two-time Oklahoma State Wrestling Champion.

Unable to beat Hendricks on the ground, GSP was forced to often stand with Hendricks, who appeared to have the stronger hands. Still, GSP rallied and won the controversial split decision.

In his post-fight interview, St-Pierre announced that he would be leaving the sport, but might return one day. A week ago, he confirmed his statements, vacated the title and walked away. St-Pierre, 25-2, was perhaps the UFC’s most popular fighter.

Hendricks will now fight Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title in March. Hendricks said he was surprised that Lawler got the shot over No. 2 contender Carlos Condit.

“I was a little bit, but you know what, like I say all the time, ‘That’s above my pay grade,'” Hendricks said, according to Yahoo! “I’m there to fight whoever they throw at me. I’m just grateful they gave me another shot at the belt.”

Joshua Molina is an award-winning journalist who has worked for a variety of media publications, including the San Jose Mercury News, where he covered San Jose City Hall. Molina has covered MMA since 2007 and previously worked for Strikeforce as a staff writer. Molina enjoys reporting and blogging about MMA and pro wrestling, and often the convergence of the two.

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